Green and Yellow eyes
by Kaleidoscope13579
Summary: Each person is born with 2 different colored eyes. Their right eye is their own while the left eye is their soulmate. If a person and their soulmate meet and stared into each other eyes, once they are ready to close and open them again, both of their eyes will changed back to the same color they were originally born with. AU where Noiz and Sly are the same age. Long oneshot.


**What's up, my fellow my readers? I'm sorry for the in-activeness of this account and not updating my other stories. It's been a long time since I wrote a story... and this is making up for it by a milestone. This is a oneshot... very long one... Anyways, hope you enjoy!~**

 **Disclaimer** **: None of the characters belong to me! Everything belongs to Nitro+Chiral except the plot.**

* * *

Wilhelm stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes – one was green and the other… a bright yellow color. He didn't have to guess which one was his because his family members each had green eyes. Although, Wilhelm didn't find his green eye to be that unique or anything special, but his yellow one, however, was a different feeling. He stared mostly at the yellow pupil, finding how the bright color was fascinating and special.

He knew about the soulmate tale; this yellow eye belongs to his soulmate somewhere out there. He wanted to meet them soon, to see what kind of person they were, and was hoping they could… his first friend.

Wilhelm couldn't feel pain. And because of that, he would play with the kids very roughly without knowing he was hurting them. He thought this was playing, but the other kids didn't think the same. They cried, they pointed and called him names, they screamed at him, they looked at him with fear, they treated him like a monster. He never meant for them to hate him because they didn't know about his condition, but it wouldn't matter. Wilhelm could never have any friends…

He had a rough fight with some of the older kids trying to mess with him. He was in the bathroom, trying to wash out his wounds and the other kids' blood off his clothes. As he washing his hands, he looked and started staring at his yellow eye. This was his soulmate's eye… they had a really unique color. Was his soulmate someone who could accept him? Like him the way he is? Would they never leave him alone? If they were his soulmate, then they would understand him in one way no one else can. He was hoping all of this was true. Because out of everyone in the world, he wanted to count on his soulmate to be the one that Wilhelm can relate to.

* * *

Aoba stared at his reflection in the mirror. He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows at his different colored eyes. They were yellow and green. He remembered when his skin was only black and white until the pigments in his body absorbed the colors he saw during his surroundings. He was born in a church yet he stayed mostly at the beach nearby. His hair was blue because of the sea, his skin was light because of the sand, one of his eyes was yellow because of the sun, but he had no explanation for his green eye. He barely remembered any lush vegetation near the beach or the church. If he could remember any foliage, they were mostly a dark mushy green color instead of the light shade he had on his pupil.

He exited out of the bathroom after washing his hands to get ready for dinner. Granny was cooking delicious in the kitchen; he could smell the aroma as he was walking downstairs. Maybe Granny might know why he had a green eye. When he was adopted by his parents, his mom and dad would only smiled happily whenever he mentioned it. He hadn't seen them in a while since they were taking one of their long adventure trips again. Even though it bothered him that he couldn't see them all the time, it was still nice with Granny around.

Aoba walked into the kitchen as he saw Granny still cooking something by the stove. "Aoba, can you set the plates?" She asked.

"Okay!" He grabbed two shiny plates and bowls from the counter and set them on the dinner table. He patiently sat down and waited for Granny to finish cooking. Once all the meals were plated at the table and Granny sat down across from Aoba, while they said their thanks for the meal, he thought it was a good time to ask.

"Granny…" He started.

"Yes, Aoba?"

"How come one of my eyes is green?" He said as he pointed to it. Granny looked up and merely chuckled at him.

"Why do you ask, Aoba?"

"Well, it's weird. Mom and Dad don't have 2 different eye colors. You don't have them either. Why me?" He knew he was adopted, but he still thought it was strange.

Granny only gave a small smile as she set her utensils down. "Aoba, do you know what a soulmate is?"

"…Soulmate…?" He has heard of it before. His mom and dad would say it to each other often.

"Soulmates are when people are destined to be together. Your left eye is your soulmate's, the right one is yours. When you two meet, you will decide to what to do with your life with them." She simply explained.

Aoba nodded as he understood. His left eye was his yellow one, so the green right eye was his soulmate's. He asked again, "Granny, are Mom and Dad soulmates?"

"Yes, Aoba."

"You have a soulmate?"

"I did. That was a long time ago." Her tone was nostalgic, but not sad.

"And… I have one too?"

"Of course, you do." Granny smiled. "They are out there somewhere waiting for you."

"When will I meet them?"

"When both of you are ready. Now, eat your food or it will get cold." Her stern tone picked up.

"Okay!" He wondered what kind of person they were. He wanted to meet them soon and be happy like his mom and dad are. He learned more about soulmates from Granny; they were special people that will understand him, be there for him, accept him for who he is, and make him happy.

As Aoba grew up, he became rougher. He fell in love with fighting and began to fall for more dangerous stuff the more he grew older. He knew about his power, Scrap, and how to use it for his fun. He wanted to destroy.

Rhyme was his thrill, his new heat-seeking action, the adrenaline he loved, and more importantly the place where he could destroy. Aoba now became Sly Blue – a name he much rather preferred instead of his old one. He forgotten all about finding his soulmate, because Rhyme was the only thing he needed. He would be reminded from time to time when he would see his reflection, but he tried to ignore it. Most of the people in Rhyme still have 2 different colored eyes, because they mostly care about Rhyme like him than finding their soulmate.

However, Sly was still defensive about it. As much as he was curious of who his soulmate was, he was secretly scared on the inside to meet them. The people he knew and loved would leave him forever. Granny was disappointed of what he has become, but she just didn't understand him. He expected his soulmate would, but then again he couldn't accept the pain and disappointment if he met his soulmate but they rejected him, didn't understand him, not accepting who he was, or leaving him. He thought maybe he could live his whole life without meeting them. The fear of rejection was so great; he rather choose to never meet his soulmate.

* * *

Wilhelm came on to the island when he was thirteen and changed his name by then to Noiz, so he could start a new life here. He eventually thought people were always after something in the world, asking favors for desirable things like money or sex. He was better off alone, but his mind still wondered about that person.

His life was fine as the way it should be. Meeting his soulmate wasn't something he wanted to do. But perhaps he was afraid of meeting them. He learned how much people were selfish for getting what they want and he became one of them too. The people he hung around with didn't care on meeting their soulmate, so he shouldn't either. Noiz was afraid that his soulmate was someone who would kill his expectations. He wanted someone to accept who he was, make him feel human for once, and would never leave him in the dark. All of that might have been too much to ask in a person. So he never wanted to meet his soulmate, it was probably for the better.

* * *

He didn't ask to meet his soulmate now. He didn't want to. But as fate wouldn't have that, he eventually found out.

Noiz was one day checking out random Rhyme players' statuses and levels. He was bored and hasn't played a match since forever ago. He has heard of this undefeated Rhyme champion that goes by the name of Sly Blue.

One day his team members burst into their hideout and Noiz quickly shifted his hat to place it over his left eye. Even if he didn't care about meeting his soulmate, he rather kept that matter private. They mentioned how they saw this Sly Blue played this one match and said how 'awesome' he was. He was "an absolute killer in the battlefield" and "a maniac" or "brutal" because all of his opponents ended up in the hospital. It might have been the ridiculous hype, but it peaked Noiz's interest. And then when they noticed him, they teased Noiz to try and fight Sly Blue because they both were undefeated yet Noiz wasn't that brutal to opponents unlike the latter. He didn't want to dwell on stupid shit they were saying, so he left their hideout and went back to his apartment. Yet the name, Sly Blue, still wondered in his mind.

Sly Blue was infamous. He heard many rumors before his team members mentioned it, but it wasn't any of his business. The guy was undefeated, he was wicked, he loves to fight yet he had no mercy. The guy sounded interesting from the rumors, but Noiz didn't want to believe in anything until he has seen the proof himself. Yet curiosity killed him. He checked out Sly Blue's profile and stats- lots of matches he won, zero losses. His performance was high, but his skills were off though. That's when Noiz was disgusted to find out the Sly Blue was using an old Allmate model. So how can this guy remain undefeated? He must have a special skill or something, maybe it was the Allmate. Now Noiz was curious to see what kind of person he was and maybe play a match with him.

He used one of his teammate's information and knew where the next Rhyme battle would be. Taking different turns in alleyways, Noiz could hear a loud crowd cheering from a distance. They were shouting the same name, "USUI! USUI! USUI!"

He surfaced into the crowd and saw a shining symbol appearing on the ground. Then, a blinding figure was emerging through it and placed her multiple arms into position. Her booming masculine voice echoed through the large loud crowd. "Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone! Now it's time to start a Rhyme match!" The crowd cheered louder. A large dome was projected over them filled with a vivid pattern of holographic polygon shapes. "Today's match will be Player 64 versus undefeated champion Sly Blue!" The crowd cheered and went crazier.

But Noiz didn't care; this was it. He gets to see what kind of player he would be dealing with soon.

"Players, get ready, set, start!" On Usui's signal, the players and their Allmates that were on hover board crafts had a bright halo above their heads. Soon, a look into the battlefield arena was projected inside the dome. Each player was attacking full on back and forth. Noiz could barely see a good look at Sly Blue, but he mainly focused on watching his attacks. About halfway through the battle, Noiz was becoming incredibly disappointed. Sly Blue's Allmate attacks were doing minimal damage to his opponent meanwhile the enemy has taken down most of Sly Blue's durability and his defenses were down. There was no way he could win.

"Oooh, another blow! Sly Blue's health is only at a sliver! Can he come back with this like he always does?!" Of course not, it would take a miracle.

While watching from the crowd, Noiz could hear exciting cheer coming from his peers. "Oh man, I can't wait to see Sly Blue's big attack!" "Dude, this is the best part!" "Sly's always does this, he lets himself get hit most of the time and finishes out with a big bang!" "He's so cool!"

Now Noiz was confused. Sly Blue was doing this on purpose? This was all just a way to create a big hype? He must have judged him too quickly and waited for this so-called 'grand finale'.

As he watched, he saw something weird and peculiar. Both players were now standing still in the battle arena. Player 60-something was preparing himself for Sly Blue's next attack while Sly Blue was just facing him. The vivid projection wasn't clear, but Noiz could see Sly Blue smirking and his mouth was moving. He couldn't make out the words he said. And then he saw some weird blue blob in Sly Blue's hand; that smirk on his face grew more wide and vicious. And in a blink of an eye, Sly Blue crushed the blue blob with his hand and at the same time Player 60-whatever suddenly fell onto his knees. He was clutching his head and his mouth was opened like he was screaming. The durability health bar on the player decreased instantly until it was completely gone and that player fell onto the ground. Noiz couldn't believe what he just saw.

Usui's voice rang once more, "Player 64 defeated! Sly Blue won again!" The crowd immediately yelled in excitement. Both players were released out of the virtual world and came back to reality. One of them at least. Sly Blue hopped down from his pedestal and was immediately surrounded by guys who were congratulating and praising him. Meanwhile Noiz wanted to see the brave opponent that wanted to take his chances against Sly Blue. But he witnessed something terrible. As Noiz tried to approach, there were a few guys that were already there with solemn faces. When Noiz came close, he saw a body laying on the ground of what was once the player. He looked broken… His eyes wide and unmoving, his mouth still opened with drizzles of foam, his body was paralyzed. Noiz was speechless. He… Was he still alive?

All the rumors were true. Sly Blue was merciless opponent. All the more reasons Noiz wanted a match with him.

Noiz tried to squeeze into the crowd that was surrounding Sly Blue. He wanted to see his rival, he wanted to challenge him right here for everyone to see. He could take his chances; he confident in his own skills. One of them was going to be humiliated tonight and lose their undefeated title. He spotted the head of blue hair and was about to reach out and confront him until Sly Blue turned around. Noiz lost all confidence in his body as he stared in shock. Sly Blue had… yellow and green eyes. They were on opposite sides of Noiz's. This couldn't be true… This was unbelievable… This had to be fake. There was no way Sly Blue… and he…

Sly, thankfully, didn't see Noiz. He was too busy letting his ego being filled by his surrounding fanboys. One of them even had the audacity to yell out to him, "Hey, Sly, nice eyes! Found your soulmate yet?!"

Sly huffed and glared at the bastard that called him out, "Hey, fucker, you tryin' to start something?!" Sly was going to teach the asshole a lesson. The crowd moved with him and cheered on for a fist fight, leaving Noiz behind to stand on the spot where he froze up. He didn't feel like playing a Rhyme match tonight. Instead, Noiz shifted his hat so that his bangs were covering his eyes and he shoved his hands inside his pockets and walked home.

* * *

Noiz woke up early in the afternoon and rubbed his eyes. It has been a few days after that night's incident since he left his own apartment. He kept denying himself that it was just a dream or what he saw wasn't true. Sly Blue couldn't be… Noiz's soulmate. That was too much of crazy coincidence.

He sat up on his bed. He tried to think logically what would happened if Sly Blue was his soulmate. What was he supposed to do? Confront Sly Blue, showed him they were soulmates, and lived happily ever after? Noiz even scoffed and laughed at his own ridiculous thought. He barely even knew the guy other than he was a Rhyme maniac. How can he expect to be happy when he just found out that his soulmate was Sly Blue? His whole life was taking a turn for the worse.

Even if Sly Blue was his soulmate that doesn't changed the fact that Noiz still wanted a Rhyme match to see who the better player was. But in order to do that, they couldn't have the regular ordinary battlefield with Usui and the whole screaming crowd of Rhyme addicts. Everyone would make a big deal out of it and if Noiz was still alive at the end of the match, he could never live to see his reputation go down. They were going to have a Drive-by.

And there was still the problem of having to face each other during the battle. Sly Blue would see that Noiz was his soulmate and would want to beat his ass up and probably make him suffer harder.

That's why Noiz had a plan.

* * *

Sly was casually walking slowly into a dark alleyway. He got a suspicious message from an anonymous sender saying they wanted to battle with him. That was fine; it fuel Sly's bloodlust whenever he had a challenge. As soon as he stopped in the perfect place Noiz wanted him to be in, they both were sent into a virtual world of bright green polygon shapes and a battlefield with cartoon drawn bunnies.

Sly smiled wickedly. A Drive-By. Still fine with him. "Come out and show yourself!" He challenged. A figure next to him transformed and went into online mode.

"Aoba." Their deep voice called out.

"Hey, Ren."

"A Drive-by battlefield." Ren confirmed.

"Yeah. And it would be nice to see who I'm dealing with! Unless they're too scared!" He mocked again, feeling the adrenaline rushed through him.

Noiz had enough with his sardonic tone and float down above to meet him. Sly Blue's smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown when he saw his opponent. Some dude dressed like a doctor with a rabbit head.

"What the fuck are you?" He screeched. Who the fuck wears that to a Rhyme field?

"This time, it is such an honor. So, let's have a fun game, shall we?" Noiz was using a modulator to change the frequency of his voice. The weird disguise and the robot voice made Sly sneered at his opponent.

"Whatever, weirdo."

A green cube was thrown in the middle of field and transformed into an angry bunny with boxing gloves. Another rabbit had a green headset giving out the instruction. So, his opponent was a rabbit-obsessed creep.

During the battle, Noiz thought the odds were in his favor. He was almost close to winning. His Usagimodoki were better models than Sly Blue's and they certainly proved their worth by inflicting a lot of damage to Sly and his Allmate. But he shouldn't have gotten cocky, because he knew about Sly's strategy.

Every hit he took fueled the bloodlust waiting to burst. Other than destroying, Sly loved to be destroyed in a way. Every match he played excited him no matter what. Now it was time to finish this.

As Sly was getting ready to say his words, he noticed how weird his opponent was. He couldn't see him through the rabbit head, but it felt like his enemy has been staring at him the whole time. Usually, opponents would watch their surroundings or any upcoming attacks, but his rabbit head hadn't move an inch and kept facing Sly instead. The guy was definitely weird.

Even if Sly wanted to Scrap him, it wasn't fun if he couldn't see his opponent in pain. The rabbit head was obviously blocking the face of his challenger; if he used Scrap, there wasn't a point because he would only see him clutching the stupid rabbit head. It was better to end quickly; he had other things to do.

Just as he was about to perform his final move…

"Wait."

His opponent stopped him. Sly furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Did his competitor told him to 'wait'?

The rabbit head moved forward and stood in front of Sly. He wasn't doing anything, but just standing there. Sly frowned, "Well? What?" He was on his guard if there was a surprise attack.

Through the two black holes of his mask, Noiz was staring at Sly's eyes. He wanted to confirm. Sly's left eye was green, but it didn't mean that it was Noiz's even though the resemblance was identical. However, Sly's right eye was yellow; that unmistakable bright color was the same as Noiz's. There no way to mix up any other shade of yellow because there couldn't be any other color that was exactly similar to it.

The weird proximity distance made Sly back up a few feet away from his creepy opponent. He didn't know what he was doing and whatever it was made him uncomfortable. But he didn't lose his focus. Sly smirked as he was holding a blue alluring orb of his power and said in his deep, hypnotic voice, " **Destruction and Death.** "

…

Sly woke up in the same alleyway he was pulled into the Drive-By. He picked himself up off the floor, dusted the dirt off his pants, and stretched his limbs. This was a nice way to kill time, even if that battle was weird and strange.

"Ren? You alright?"

The pup on the ground activated by the sound of his owner. "Yes, I am fine, Aoba."

"I'll do a maintenance check on you later in case you got a weird bug from the Drive-By. Are your systems okay?"

"Yes, everything seems in place. But it is safe to do maintenance check just in case." Sly picked up Ren and carried in his arms, admiring the soft fur. He grinned with an okay and walked out of alleyway.

Meanwhile, hiding behind some boxes and crates, Noiz sat up and clutched his head very tightly. A throbbing ache inside his brain was making his vision dizzy. He didn't know what Sly Blue did to him, but he knew it wasn't normal. He had some kind of power, possibly what no one else had in the Rhyme field. Noiz had Usagimodoki recorded their battle, so he can review how to counteract Sly's tactic later. But, it was amazing that he's still alive now and only suffering from a headache. He thought Sly Blue could do worse than that, but maybe he was lucky to be spared. But still, he couldn't forget about that yellow eye he saw today.

* * *

He wanted a rematch. There was no way he lost to the first battle, because Sly Blue definitely cheated. Whatever Sly Blue had up his sleeve, whatever weird special ability he was using at the end of every battle, it was definitely a cheat. And Noiz wanted to confront him, have another match, but Sly Blue can't use that power of his this time. Keep the playing field fair.

But in order to confront Sly Blue without showing his eyes, Noiz had to get out and buy a pair of shades to wear. It was the only thing he thought of that can covered both his eyes.

He found Sly Blue again when most people were crowding around in a passageway because Usui was going to show up for another Rhyme competition. He caught Sly Blue's arm when he was talking to some guys and grabbed his attention. Sly was ready to whip his arm back and questioned the weird guy but Noiz spoke first.

"Fight me in Rhyme."

"Haahh? Get in line, pal, I already have other people that want to fight me too." Sly snapped and tried to get his arm back from the shady man's grip.

"No. Fight me again. You cheated the first time." Noiz went straight to the point.

Sly never heard something so absurd in his life. "Cheated?! You got a big ass ego if you think I cheat- …Wait, have I fought you before? I don't remember a bizarre guy wearing shades asking me for a fight." Sly peer his eyes to try to see through the dark sunglasses.

Noiz only sighed and repeated, "This time, it is such an honor. So, let's have a fun game, shall we?"

Sly stopped and blinked. He heard those words before. As if reading his mind, Noiz reached into his pocket and pulled a keychain with a rabbit head on it. Sly's eyes widen when he saw that familiar head.

He dangled it more in front of Sly and put it back. "Want more proof?"

Sly's expression turned sour as he roughly pulled his arm back and glared while pointing a finger at Noiz, "You're the fucking creepy rabbit head that pulled me into that Drive-By a few days ago!" Noiz didn't say anything, but stared at the tip of finger. Sly sighed and his expression was replaced with a smirk. "What? Couldn't deal with the fact that you lost so now you're whining to me like a pissed off baby?"

Noiz slightly growled in the back of his throat. "I only lost 'cause you cheated."

Sly scoffed and sarcastically replied, "Yeah, I totally cheated. What's your name, kid?"

"Noiz."

"Noise?"

"Not Noise, Noiz."

"Noisy?" Sly purposely mocked.

"It's Noiz."

"Yeah, whatever, Sound." Noiz sighed impatiently. "Anyways, you want a rematch? Fine, let's do it. When Usui comes out, it's gonna be you and me first. Take off your fucking shades so I can see ya." Sly sneered.

"No. They stay on. What's more important is that you don't use that power of yours in our match."

Sly narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What power?"

"I've seen you played. And I saw for my own eyes what you did in during our first fight. You have this some sort of ability that lets you win in all your matches. That's how you only win." Noiz explained. His assumptions couldn't be wrong.

Sly only scoffed again, "You got a big cocky mouth, brat. Who do you think you are recording me like this?"

One of Sly's lackeys tapped the blue-haired man's shoulder and whispered with fear in his voice, "That's the leader of Ruff Rabbit." Everyone knew about Ruff Rabbit's leader. Noiz was also undefeated and had tremendous strength. Nothing fazed him when he gets hit.

"Oooh, that hacking team that sells info of where Usui's locations will be." Unlike the guy, Sly only dismissed the Rhyme team as a joke. "Not bad, kid. Business doing good? Get a quarter every day?"

"Considering all the Rhymers you see here right now and in every match, yeah, it sells good. You can thank us." Noiz shrugged and ignored his taunt.

"Thank you? How about each of you suck my dick? I don't need to pay to know where Usui is. I follow the crowd." However, an idea popped into his mind and made Sly cocked his head and smirked, "How about this? I won't use my power, if you take off those shades and let me see your face."

His proposal made Noiz flinch. No, this wasn't suppose to go like this. If Sly saw Noiz's eyes, things will take a turn for the worse. But if he backed off now, it will make him look like a wuss. Noiz didn't answer; he didn't move a muscle. He was contemplating on his choices.

Sly, however, had no patience to wait. Right when the glowing symbol was appearing through the floor and the crowd started chanting Usui's name, he grinned and took Noiz's wrist.

"Come on, rabbit freak! Let's put on a show!" He was dragging Noiz through the rambunctious crowd. Both their heartbeats were rapidly; Sly's for the rushing adrenaline of fighting in a match, Noiz's for the biggest reveal that was going to happen in Sly's life.

But then, as if to ruin everyone's fun but for once saved Noiz's ass, a loud grouchy voice transmitted through a megaphone caught everyone's attention. It was the police and they brought their devil of a leader.

"WHAT'S THIS?! RHYME?! YOU DAMN PUNKSTERS ARE CREATING A PUBLIC DISTURBANCE! TIME FOR ALL OF YOU TO GO TO JAAAAAAIILLLL!"

Akushima. A name never more fitting for a man. Everyone scattered like bugs once the police started ambushing and hitting the Rhymesters with their batons. Both Sly and Noiz clicked their tongues and was thinking of a way to escape quickly. Noiz was ready to bolt but then his arm was being pulled in the opposite direction he wanted to escape.

Sly was still holding his wrist and yelled back to Noiz, "Come on, this way!" before yanking him in a different escape route. Noiz was shocked, but he didn't have time to object. They had to run fast.

They scurried down a narrow pathway that was blocked by a fence, but it didn't stop either of them for climbing over it. Once they jumped over to the other side and dash through different passageways, they finally stopped to catch their breath. They escaped the police; there were still sounds of screaming, yelling, and maniacally laughing heard from the distance. Other than that, they were definitely sure they were safe since no policemen tried to follow them.

Sly took a deep breath, "I think we did it." He straightened up and stretched his back, "God, I hate that guy! He always comes and ruins the party."

There was no disagreement from Noiz, "He's so loud and cranky. Probably needs to get laid."

When Sly heard that, he burst out laughing. "Ew, gross! I didn't need that mental image, asshole!" He clutched his stomach and doubled over. Noiz thought his laughter was kind of cute. After a couple of minutes, his laughter died down and Sly took several breaths to calm himself, "…It's a shame. I wanted to have that rematch with you." His eyes smirked, "Wanna have one right now? Another Drive-By right here?"

As much as Noiz wanted to, he couldn't agree with the terms this time. It was too early to reveal anything yet. He had to lie, "Nah, I'm… pretty tired from our getaway escape. Another time…"

Sly pouted, "God, are you that out of shape from a simple run-in with the police? Tch…" He folded his arms; he was very unsatisfied with Noiz's answer. After a few moments in silence, Sly spoke up again, "So, what's the deal with those shades? Got a black eye or something?"

He had to come up with another lie quickly. "No… it's just… I don't want people commenting on my eyes. You know, the whole soulmate thing?"

Buying through it, Sly nodded as he understood. "Yeah, I feel ya. I hate it when people mentioned my eyes. It makes me want to punch them."

"Why? Don't like your eyes?" Noiz casually leaned against a wall besides Sly.

"It's not like that… it just feels like I want to protect it…" Sly said as he lightly touched the skin under his left green eye. And Noiz knew what he meant. It's the reason why he kept shifting his hat in front of his yellow eye. Sly started leaning against the wall as well. "So, what about you? Don't you like your eyes?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of? What does that even mean?" He chuckled, thinking this guy with the shades wasn't half-bad. Even though their conversation was nice, it scared Noiz how much he was interacting freely around someone he wanted to challenge with in the first place. Plus, their topic was ironic, but also felt wrong.

Noiz lifted himself off the wall and started to walk away. Sly noticed his leave and called out to him, "Hey, where're you going?"

"Home."

"Oh…" He shoved his pockets and smirked, "See you around?"

"No promises."

* * *

He didn't plan on meeting Sly again anytime soon. But fate was granting him the worst luck ever.

He was casually walking down the street. He's been holdup in his own apartment for the past few days after the Rhyme incident. Ever since the police came, Usui hasn't show up, probably to lay low for a while. Without any work to do and gotten bored from playing mindless games on his coil, Noiz thought he might as well get some fresh air.

He was nearing an open alleyway where he heard 2 male voices. They were incoherent until he reached the opening where their conversation was louder and he recognized one of them.

"I said… BACK THE FUCK OFF!"

Suddenly, a flying body landed near Noiz's feet. He had no reaction to the groaning, limp body on the floor until he looked up to see who the second person was that done this. Sly. Crap, he quickly pulled out his shades hanging from the collar of his shirt and put them on. His fast reflexes were enough, because Sly didn't notice him until he looked up right after Noiz put his shades on.

Sly smirked and walked up to Noiz, "Hey, it's Bunny boy! How you doing?"

"Bunny boy?" Noiz repeated the nickname with repulse.

Sly grinned, anticipating that reaction. "Yeah, I thought of it a few days ago. 'Cause, you know, you had a lot of bunnies with you when we first fought. Is that like your thing?" Noiz wasn't paying attention, but instead lowered his head to indicate that he was staring at the other guy on the ground. Sly followed his direction and waved it off, "Don't mind him. He's still alive."

"What did he do?"

"Oh, the guy was following me around for a while in Rhyme. I thought he was one of my followers until he suddenly came on to me. Talking about how he wants to do it with me, but I wasn't feeling it right now. Then he wouldn't take no for an answer because his dick was talking for him, so I kicked the hell out of him." The man on the ground groaned as Sly shrugged. "He'll be fine, not that I care. So, what are you doing?"

"Hmm… just walking." Noiz's eyes kept wandering to the body on the floor. "This sort of thing happens to you all the time?"

"You wouldn't believe how many guys are getting horny around here. But whatever." Sly shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked, "So… how are ya? Haven't seen you these past couple of days after Rhyme."

Noiz lied again, "I've been busy… What about you?"

"Eh, I had worse days besides this." As Sly casually waved it off, his stomach growled loudly between them.

There was a long silence until Noiz snorted, "Hungry?"

"Hey, shut up! I haven't ate anything yet!" Sly made excuses, but Noiz could tell the hint of embarrassment written on his face. He turned his eyes away, unable to look at Noiz. After a couple of seconds, he spoke again softly, "…Are you hungry?"

"I could go for a bite right now." Noiz woke up around noon, so he missed breakfast. There was a nearby food court they could go to. "Come on. Let's go."

But before Noiz could turn, Sly stopped him with his hand. "Yeah, there's a problem with that, Bunny boy. I don't have any money." He pulled out the inside of his pockets to empathize.

"I'll pay for you."

"Really?" One of Sly's eyebrows rose in interest. He genuinely grinned and they started walking into the direction of the food court. Sly was strangely eager to get free food from a guy he only met twice. But, he felt like Noiz was someone different than the usual creeps and Rhyme addicts. He was comfortable around him and can freely joke around with. And plus, there was a weird connection he was feeling with Noiz.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back as soon as I can." Sly walked casually with Noiz, nearing the food court.

Noiz shrugged, "You don't have to. Money's not a problem for me."

Sly scoffed by such a laidback bragging answer, "What? You rich or something?"

Noiz didn't answer, because by that time he asked, they already have made it to the food court. There was a variety of local food stands- ones that Sly was familiar with, but Noiz wasn't. In fact, it was his first time being around in this area. There were new things he hasn't tried before and he was genuinely curious about all the local cuisine here. He had no idea where to start, but his nose was carrying the scent of something cooking nearby.

There were so many choices to choose from and different tastes Sly was definitely craving. But they were spending Noiz's money so he wanted to ask first.

"Hey, since you're buying, what are you up for…?" When Sly tried to turn to Noiz, he realized he was talking to an empty space right next to him. He whipped his head back and forth, trying to search for the green man. But the more he hunted, the more Sly got angry. "That fucker…!"

Sly peered around his surroundings until he caught the person he was looking for in front of a food stand. He ran up to Noiz with a distraught tone, "Hey, thanks for ditching me, asshole. What are you doing-"

"Here. Hold this" Noiz didn't pay attention to Sly's annoyed attitude. Once his order was finished, he handed Sly two boxes of the hot, fresh food and moved on quickly to the next stand that caught his eye and nose.

"Wha-Hey!" Sly tried to catch up, but Noiz was moving faster than he was. Mostly because every time they stopped to one food stand at a time, Noiz would make Sly carried all their food and chase after another one. Trying to even hold them all and running after Noiz was difficult. Sly took it back: Noiz was definitely weird.

He finally had enough when his arms couldn't fit any more food to carry. He yelled at Noiz when he finally caught up and interrupted the man while he was ordering again, "Enough already! Slow down!"

Noiz blinked and paused when he turned back to Sly and noticed him in his awkward, frustrated position. Sly looked like he was struggling to balance all the food Noiz bought. "Oh. Sorry. Do you want to stop for now and eat already?"

"I think we have enough right now." Sly glared at him.

…

They found a table to dump all the food they carried. Sly wasted no time to dig in and devoured one of the boxes Noiz first ordered. It was octopus dumplings and it was terribly delicious. Noiz also grabbed one of the same boxes Sly took and inspected the 6 doughy snacks smothered in toppings and sauces. He didn't eat but just stared.

Sly noticed while his cheeks and mouth were stuffed, "Whaf's 'rong, Bummpy buf? (What's wrong, Bunny boy?)" Pieces of the dumplings flew out while he talked. He swallowed it all down and wiped his mouth his sleeve. "You bought it, aren't ya gonna eat it?"

"Yeah, but… what is it?" Noiz's serious question made Sly blinked twice at him.

"You don't know what it is? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I am. What is it?" Noiz repeated with furrowed brows.

Sly gawked before finally replying, "…Takoyaki."

"Takoyaki… weird name." Noiz gave the octopus ball on a stick a good twirl before eating it in one bite. He chewed slowly to savor the taste and gulped, rubbing his chin afterwards. "Salty…"

"You're a weirdo." Sly ignored it and continued eating. He had to stop again, because Noiz kept asking more questions about the food.

"What's that one? And that?"

He sighed, "Crepe. And deep fried doughnuts." For Noiz to be asking these questions made Sly really suspicious, "God, what have you been eating this entire time if you don't know these foods?"

Noiz plainly replied, "Delivery pizza and pasta."

Sly's expression told Noiz he didn't believe him. "Only those?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Because why not?"

Rolling his eyes and giving up, Sly threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine. Whatever." But now, Sly currently believed Noiz lived in a cave or under a rock. In fact, he wondered how long Noiz has lived here in Midorijima. Sly tried to look up some information about Noiz after their second meeting; he saw how Noiz was an undefeated champion too, which explains his prissy mood when he confronted to Sly when he lost to him.

Distracted by his own thoughts, Sly didn't notice Noiz moved closer to him until he felt his arm being grabbed. Sly finally returned back to reality just as he saw the takoyaki in his hand he was going to eat being swooped up and stolen by Noiz's mouth like a bird. He stared dumbly at the sneaky man who leaned back in his chair and gulped down the snack in his haughty accomplishment.

Shaking off the daze, he yelled out, "Hey, that was mine! Why did you do that, asshole?! You had a whole box in front of you!"

"I finished that already."

"You…!" He growled and ate the rest of takoyakis in his own box before Noiz could steal any more.

Meanwhile, Noiz moved on to eating the crepe instead and commenting how sweet it was. Despite his questionable limited knowledge of food and weird behavior sometimes, Noiz was still a decent person to Sly. He probably wouldn't have this much fun –yes, fun- with anyone else he knew.

"How old are you?" He curiously asked, making conversation instead of eating in awkward silence.

"19."

"Cool, me too." And then a strange desire to know something made Sly ask again, "When's your birthday, though?"

"June."

Sly grinned and raised his fist up, "Yes! I'm in April, which means I'm the older one!"

Noiz frowned, "By two months. What's the big deal?" With a reaction like that, Sly laughed.

They mindlessly talked during the rest of their time and had different conversations while eating the rest of their food. Neither noticing their situation looked like a first date. Even during their conversation and getting to know each other a little better, Sly still felt like he really didn't know much about Noiz, something more personal about him, but he didn't want to push it. He had some deep secrets to keep from Noiz too, and they weren't even labeled as friends yet.

They stayed in the food court for about an hour; all their food was gone and the table was just filled with scarps of trash that neither of them had the desire to throw it all away. Noiz's coil beeped with some new information about Rhyme and Usui; they should depart soon, because he needed to get to work.

Noiz stood up and pushed his chair back, getting ready to leave. Sly's eyes followed him and spoke up, "Leaving already?"

"Yeah. Got work to do."

"Booo, boring~!" Through his shades, Noiz was raising his eyebrow at Sly. It didn't look like Sly was leaving at all.

"Not going home?" He asked.

Sly shook his head, not facing Noiz but the chair he just sat in. "Not really." A pause. "I got kicked out." He recently came home drunk a couple days ago. His granny yelled out at him for stinking the house, so she kicked him out until he got rid of the smell. He hasn't come back since, which explained why his stomach growled earlier for not having a decent meal in a while.

Noiz couldn't respond, so he sighed. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's cool. I got kicked out before…" The problem was Sly had no place to stay. His so-called acquaintances couldn't spare him a place so he's been living on the streets. Then, a sneaky, far-fetched idea came into his mind. Sly leaned towards Noiz with a smirk, "Any chance I can crash at your place for a few days?"

Through his shades, Noiz narrowed his eyes at Sly. That was a dangerous request for the both of them. It was even ironic how he was keeping his distance from Sly by holding up in his own apartment in the first place.

His silence told Sly his answer, but the man still grinned and laughed, "Come on, can't you spare me a spot on your floor? I only need a place to sleep at. I'll be gone most of the day and night; you'll barely know I'm there." Noiz still wasn't buying through his persistence. "Come on, Bunny boy! You can pay for my food, but not let me crash at your place?"

"That was different. Money's not a problem, I have plenty." Plus, he was hungry too. "You being at my apartment though? I want to see what's in it for me"

Getting the message, Sly stood up from his seat and smirked more towards Noiz, leaning more into him. "I'll suck you off, how's that?" Noiz only frustratingly sighed. That's what he thought of people –always after money or sex- until Sly chuckled again. "I'm kidding. I don't know what you'd want. Hmm…" And then, it clicked in Sly's mind. "I got it! The rematch you wanted. Next time Usui shows up, I won't use my 'power'."

Noiz peer his eyes at Sly in suspicion, "And I don't have to take off my shades?"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to." As much as Sly wanted to disagree, he needed to back down this time. "So, we have a deal?"

"Sure. Follow me." Noiz walked first as Sly followed behind, very pleased to find a place to stay. Noiz was a decent person, possibly the first one Sly can call a friend. And to Noiz, maybe hanging around with Sly wasn't a bad idea despite knowing they were soulmates. For now, he could keep this secret hidden to only himself. There was no need for Sly to know.

"Just to be sure, you don't live under a rock, right? No cave either?" Noiz sighed impatiently again.

* * *

"Make yourself at home."

Noiz unlocked his door and opened to reveal his fairly large apartment space. It was very modern looking and everything was clean. The walls were blank yet tan-colored and the floors were shiny and wooden texture. In the living room had a white, spacious sofa, square coffee table, flat screen TV and speakers, with sliding glass doors at the opposite end of the room to see the whole district. The kitchen was right next to the entrance: the usual countertops, sink, cabinets, fridge, microwave, and stove. However it looked too clean and untouched. And there were 2 doors off to the side of the living room- possibly the bedroom and bathroom.

Noiz left his shoes by the entrance and sat down on the floor in front of the sofa. Sly followed after him and took a seat on the couch, noticing how cushions felt unhinged. Noiz crisscrossed his legs and pulled out multiple holographic screens surrounding him as flashing numbers went by repeatedly. Just trying to follow the confusing numbers in the bright neon displays gave Sly a headache.

Noiz spoke up as he still focused on the screens. "You can sleep on the couch."

"Yeah… thanks." Sly replied as he kept bouncing in his seat. "Hey, do you ever use this couch? It's a little stiff like it hasn't been used in years."

"That's 'cause I don't use it that much. The floor's always been comfy enough for me." Noiz still didn't break concentrate from his work.

"What kind of an idiot buys a couch and doesn't use it?" The blue-haired teen sneered while throwing his legs up to lie on the sofa.

"This couch was here when I bought the apartment, most furniture too." Noiz did take some offense that made him a little distracted.

Sly only grinned when he heard the change of tone in Noiz's voice for calling him an idiot. He came closer to Noiz to try and see what all this stuff he was working on meant.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm working on coordinates to pinpoint Usui's location." But as Noiz was working, he noticed how odd the numbers were crunching together, not that Sly could tell.

"Right, your 'business'." Sly's eyes were getting tired from staring at the screens too long. "God, this is what you do all day?"

"Pretty much."

Sly was surprised this idiot hasn't turned blind yet from all the holographic projections. Maybe he was and was wearing those goofy shades to protect them from now on.

After a couple of minutes of lazing on the sofa and watching his new roommate 'working', Sly was feeling bored and decided to get up and inspect his new place. He didn't bother going to the two doors on the side, afraid Noiz would reprimand him from trespassing into his room.

So, Sly checked out the kitchen instead, seeing how clean and unscathed the surface was. He assumed Noiz probably doesn't use his kitchen either. He looked through the fridge and found leftover pizza boxes and pasta containers. Nothing else. After closing the fridge, Sly glanced over to his side and found a coffee machine with a few coffee bean grinds left. He was feeling thirsty just looking at it.

"Hey, can I use it?" Sly called out to his roommate still planted on the floor.

"Yeah sure." Noiz didn't look up to what he was referring, but he really didn't care. There was something wrong with the information he received from his teammate of Usui's location; the coordinates doesn't match anywhere around the area. He assumed they probably screwed up somehow and wasted his time.

Noiz can hear the coffee machine turning on and the aroma of fresh coffee was brewing, so he can inferred what Sly meant. After some time has passed, a cup was settled down in front of him that made him paused from his work. He glanced towards Sly who was seated on the couch right next to him, holding his own cup as well.

"There was enough for two, so I made you one." Sly blew on his drink before taking a sip. "Take a break already. Why don't you tell me how good my coffee-making skills are?" He teased.

Noiz didn't question anything further as his screens disappeared. He took the cup in front of him and immediately started to take a sip.

Sly saw this and babbled, "Hey, wai-!"

"Tch!" Noiz harshly drew the cup away from his mouth that caused some hot coffee to spill on his hand.

"You fucking idiot!" Sly angrily yelled as the teen hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a handful of napkins, dipped them in cold water from the sink, and came rushing back to Noiz. He was wiping the red, burning hand furiously, rambling insults about a 'stupid fucking idiot', while also tried to wipe the napkins against Noiz's mouth, making the piercing teen pull back away from him.

"What was that?" Noiz glared.

"What is wrong with you?!" Sly only yelled back. "The coffee was hot! Didn't you feel that?!" Noiz didn't answer, but Sly kept lecturing him more. "I'm surprised you're not screaming in pain, because your hand got burned too."

Noiz didn't say anything else, but roughly took his hand back. He opened his holographic screens again and started typing at his normal speed like nothing happened to his hand.

Sly only gawked at him sternly, "You can drop the tough boy act. If your hand hurts, then tell me."

"It doesn't."

"What do you mean it doesn't?"

"It just doesn't. Now drop it."

Both of their anger levels and annoyance tolerance were rising. Sly was getting pissed that Noiz was being an asshole when he was trying to help him. Noiz was getting irritated for talking about something personal.

"Fine."

That was the last word of their conversation before Sly got up and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door on his way out. After Sly left, Noiz closed his screens and sat back against the couch, took his shades off and ran his hand through his bangs. He let out a sigh, thinking this idea was a terrible mistake. Maybe just trying to meet Sly and get involve with him was a terrible mistake.

…

Later around midnight, Noiz was laying on his bed mindlessly tapping against the holographic screen in his front of his face. He couldn't sleep; contemplating about the decisions he regretfully made involving a certain soulmate of his. In fact, the soulmate thing was turning ridiculous that Noiz began to deny Sly Blue was actually his. There was no way a person like that and someone like him could match or even get along.

He should give up on the idea that Sly Blue was actually his soulmate and the whole soulmate was dumb. But just when he thought he made his final decision, he heard his apartment door clicked open and someone was walking inside along with the sound tapping feet against the floorboard. Did he forget to lock the door after Sly left?

He got up from his bed and peek outside of his door. He could see a shadow slumped on his sofa. Noiz carefully walked up the figure in slow silent footsteps. Even in the dark, he could make out the long blue hair. As he approached the person, he could see the peaceful sleeping expression on Sly Blue's face. He looked very vulnerable, relaxed even. And then Noiz saw on the edge of the sofa a dark fur ball curled up against Sly's feet. Must be his allmate.

He left them alone to sleep for the night and returned to his own bed. But for the rest of the night, Noiz couldn't get that sleepy expression out of his head.

…

In the morning, they both saw each other as Noiz walked out of his bedroom, shades on to cover the dreary look in his eyes. Sly was no better. Their interaction was tense, but they both acted like yesterday's argument didn't happen or affected them that much.

 _"Hey."_

 _"Hey…"_

 _"Where did you go yesterday?"_

 _"Out. … What about you?"_

 _"Stayed here. Worked."_

 _"Oh…"_

 _"… Want some coffee?"_

 _"…Sure…"_

 _"Here."_

 _"Thanks … Uh, it's a bit too sweet."_

 _"Really? I guess I kind of like my coffee sweet."_

 _"I prefer mine on the bitter side."_

 _"Oh, I can tell from yesterday. I drank the rest of the cup."_

 _"Really? So, was it good?"_

 _"I don't prefer bitter stuff. But, it was okay."_

 _"Give me a rate, come on! I wanna know!"_

 _"Hmm… 5/10?"_

 _"Wooowww, asshole."_

 _"I said I didn't prefer bitter stuff."_

 _"But, you didn't have to give me such a low grading. Fine, I'll give you 6 out of 10 on your coffee skills, how about that?"_

 _"I really didn't ask for a grade."_

 _"I know, but I won't let you bring my pride down. …I'm kinda hungry. Wanna go to a real coffee shop? They should sell some food too."_

 _"Hm, sure, why not?"_

 _"And don't buy out the whole menu too!"_

Noiz sighed impatiently.

* * *

A couple of weeks went by since Sly moved in with Noiz. Usui has yet to show up so they could have their rematch was completely bizarre. Noiz wondered how long Sly was just 'crashing' at his place, but he couldn't ask the person himself because Sly would overact thinking Noiz was fed up with him and wanted to kick him out already. It wasn't like Noiz was bothered by him; it just because Noiz was afraid that Sly might find out soon about the secret he was keeping from him. How Sly would react terrified Noiz for reasons unknown why.

It was Saturday evening that the two of them were lounging in Noiz's living room. Noiz was doing typing in some codes on his screens –doing some other work other than Rhyme- while Sly was playing a mindless game on his coil, feeling bored as ever.

Occasionally, the blue-haired teen would glance at his roommate, hoping he noticed how bored he was. Sly would let out a heavy groaning sigh and let it drone out more as time passes. Eventually, Noiz turned to face him.

"What?" He said irritably.

"I'm boooreed!" The latter whined.

"So?"

"Sooo, let's do something! It's Saturday night and I haven't seen you leave your apartment unless we're going out to get food." Sly did have a point, but it was because Noiz didn't want to associate outside with other people. "Let's do something fun! You and me! Come ooooon, Noooiz!"

The blond sighed and closed his screens, giving into his whiny companion's demand. "Fine, what do you suggest?"

"Let's go to a club-"

"No. No clubs. You know I hate them." Noiz had a strong distaste for clubs. To him, they were loud from the blaring music and rowdy crowds of people; stinky from all the different smells of sweat, perfume/cologne, vomit, alcohol, and sex; and lack of appeal besides getting drunk, wasted, and tired. But to Sly, it was the place to be wild and free from anyone and anything; just letting the mind numb out and go with the flow; a place where desires unleashed.

"But, come one, Noiz!"

"No. Unless you can think of something better, I'm not going outside and I'm not going to a club. Why don't you by yourself?" Noiz asked as he reopened his screens again.

"Because… it's more fun going with a person than yourself. Plus, who's going to carry me back to the apartment when I'm hampered?" Sly only told half the truth he meant. He didn't want to say out loud than he wanted to have more fun with just Noiz himself.

But Noiz responded coldly to his explanation, "Have your other friends go with you. Or think of something else we can do."

Sly pouted and cross his legs on the couch. He felt like he was losing or about to give up on the idea to take Noiz out into lively night streets. He pulled out his coil, about to resume his stupid app game until an idea struck him.

"Let's go to the arcade then!" Sly shouted excitedly.

"Hmm?"

"Ar-cade! I know you like games! Why don't we hit the place up and play some one-on-one? You and me?" Sly smirked, knowing Noiz would probably be interested if it involved any form of competition. Plus, they needed to occupy the thrill of a long delay rematch between them.

After much deliberation, Noiz gave in. "Hmm… sure."

Sly bounced on the sofa excitedly and couldn't wait to go out as he took Noiz's wrist after he closed his screens and dragged him outside the door. The arcade was not too far and Sly wanted to fuel his burning desire with a fight or some kind of match. As for Noiz, he never knew why he let himself get dragged into any of Sly's schemes, but he never regretted it.

 _"Ha! Yes, I win!"_

 _"Tch. I want another match."_

 _"Aww, where have I heard that before? Hehe, you're such a sore loser!"_

 _"Yeah, well, maybe you cheated again."_

 _"Again with that sorry ass excuse? You're a bigger baby than I thought. Tell you what, pick a game you think you'll beat me in. And to make it more interesting, let's have a bet. Winner gets to decide what to do with the loser."_

 _"Hmm…"_

 _"You in?"_

 _"Deal."_

 _"Great, take your pick."_

 _"That one."_

 _"That one, huh? This will be fun!"_

 _…_

 _"Ha! I win again!"_

 _"God, damn it."_

 _"Even when you think you'll win, you lo~st! Deal with it, loser!"_

 _"Another-"_

 _"No, you lost! Take it like a man already! I gave you free choice on a game you thought you can beat me in. Now, face it, I'm the winner and you're… the loser! …And that also makes me winner of the bet."_

 _"Fine. What do you want?"_

 _"Hmmmm… I want…"_

And after that, Noiz agreed to go out with Sly on Saturday evenings as they randomly crash and hang out in different places in the Southern distinct.

* * *

Usui had finally came back to host Rhyme games again. After laying low for a month now, when she finally appeared, there was a larger group of Rhymers surrounding the area she showed up. She built up the pending adrenaline every Rhymer held and now today's battles were wild as ever as the crowd cheered.

Sly was against a bunch of people waiting for their match with him. And Noiz agreed to play one match with this random player that challenged him. Sly seemed to have forgotten about the rematch he was supposed to play against Noiz, while Noiz secretly hid it in the back of his mind, thinking of a right time to play against him since Sly seemed busy with the other people that practically swarm to him for a match when they arrived at the field.

Noiz stayed at the sidelines watching Sly repeatedly crush every single one of his opponent using that same method of his. No matter how many times Noiz has seen it, he still had no explanation on how Sly wield this ability or able to get such a power in the first place. While the battles were going on, Noiz noticed how bright Sly's yellow was while being so immersed in his fights.

After the 4th defeated opponent, Sly took a break from the battlefield and went into the crowd to bask in his glory with they were cheering him on like he was a celebrity. Now it was Noiz's turn to play. The round was slightly tense; his opponent was aggressive and seemingly the type that wanted to win very badly. But, of course, Noiz wouldn't lose so easily. It was Sly's turn to watch from the sidelines as he was quietly rooting for his roommate, but also curious how well Noiz played from a spectator's view. And soon enough, he saw how impressive his skills were and his title of an also undefeated Rhyme champion –before Sly – wasn't a lie.

In Sly's eyes, it was inevitable that Noiz would win. As his landlord's battle was over and their minds returned to reality, Sly was about to come up to Noiz and congratulate him on his victory. That was until Noiz's opponent didn't accept his loss so willingly.

"Gh! You fucker! No way!" Sly gasped as the opponent grabbed the collar of Noiz's shirt and landed a sharp punch to his face. The impact was so harsh that it knocked the shades Noiz was wearing the entire time. At least his back was turned to Sly so Noiz coldly stared at his opponent and fought back with harder punch right across the face that sent the sore loser flying back.

As Noiz displayed no emotions, he inspected the damage on his cheek. It bruised him more than he thought when he touched the corner of his lip and found himself bleeding a little. And that's when he realized that he was missing something on his face. His shades… where were his shades?

"Hey…" Crap, he knew that voice. Noiz slightly lowered his hat to block his eyes. Sly was frowning as he nudged something towards Noiz. "Here. It's your shades."

Still with his back turned, Noiz reached out and grabbed them, placing them over his eyes again. "Thanks." He remarked back.

Sly shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "No problem." He said as he walked by Noiz's side and stared at the unconscious body lying on the floor, feeling a twinge of déjà vu. "Man, that guy was a dick. He's much more of a baby at losing than you are."

Dismissing the last comment, Noiz agreed. Sly looked at the blond and noticed how red his cheek was getting, maybe turning purple as well. "Ugh, shit, that guy roughed you up a little. Although…" Sly glanced at the body on the ground. "…you did worse to him. Wanna head back to clean you up?"

"It's fine." Noiz immediately answered as he sucked the corner of his lip to keep it from bleeding in front of Sly. It wasn't enough to fool the teen.

The response didn't satisfy Sly either. He frowned, "It's not fine. I can tell you're bleeding too. Look, let's get you a bandage and come back here. What's the problem?"

"The problem is you don't need to worry. I can keep going and I can handle this later." Noiz pointed to his bruising cheek that keeps getting darker and swollen.

Sly narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, well, it's bothering me when I keep looking at you, the thing is getting more uglier. What's the big deal with treating your wound?"

"The deal is it's not your business. And if it bothers you, stop looking at it." Both parties were ready to snap. Neither one of them was going to back down. Sly was glaring as his fists were shaking, while Noiz was staring at him coldly through his shades. Noiz was the first to break their intense showdown. "Look, go back to arena. My wounds doesn't concern you."

"No." Sly huffed and let out a heavy sigh. "I'll go back to playing Rhyme, you go back home and treat that bruise." Before Noiz could protest, Sly cut him off. "Or it's me dragging your ass back there and treating you myself."

Noiz snarled through his teeth, not liking the attitude he was receiving as though he was a kid being lectured by his parent. But he knew Sly stubborn; no matter what, the blue-haired teen's word was final and he meant what he said.

With one last angry stare, Noiz caved in. "Fine." With a turn of his heel, Noiz walked out of the alley, leaving Sly without any word.

…

Noiz stared at his holographic screens in front of him blankly with a white strip on his cheek; sitting on the floor in the living room with low light. He did as he was told and went back home and put on a bandage on his face. But instead of coming back to the Rhyme area, he stayed home not wanting to see Sly or any of the other Rhymers. He was still mad, but he did at least have time to cool down his anger.

Soon, he heard the door clicked open and to see a figure of unmistakable blue hair coming in. Sly set down the spare room key and looked up to find his roommate. They both made eye contact, but neither has said anything yet.

Sly saw the bandage on Noiz's cheek, "Did you put ice on it?"

"Hmm? Ice?" Noiz raised a brow.

"Yes, ice, stupid. You need it to… hold on." Sly turned around and headed straight to the fridge. He grabbed a packet of ice and a towel near the sink to wrap around it; then he walked back to Noiz and sat right next to him, holding up the ice packet.

 _"This may hurt."_

 _"Whatever."_

 _"… Can you not feel pain?"_

 _"…"_

 _"Don't think I haven't notice. It… bothered me for quite some time. …How come you can't feel it?"_

 _"…It's not something I want to talk about."_

 _"Why not? You can tell me."_

 _"I don't want to talk about it."_

 _"But… you can tell me! I'm your… friend."_

 _"…Friend?"_

 _"Y-Yeah! Been living here with you for a month… thought we were friends…I-I rarely call people my friends."_

 _"…"_

 _"S-Stop staring at me like that!"_

 _"Why would you want to be friends with me… if you know I can't feel pain?"_

 _"What do you mean? Just 'cause you can't feel pain, doesn't mean you're any different."_

 _"…"_

 _"…Hey, you okay? Ya keep staring."_

 _"…Sorry… I can't tell you about my condition. …Not yet. One day."_

 _"You better keep that promise."_

One day Noiz will tell him. One day, he'll tell him everything. One day… maybe.

* * *

Another month has passed.

Noiz was out to get food while Sly was waiting back at the apartment. He didn't feel like getting up from the sofa or getting up to go anywhere. Or maybe that's what he told himself.

Ever since that day he confronted Noiz about his inability to feel pain, Sly has been acting weird around him lately. He couldn't understand it; he would have these stomach-churning feeling whenever he was close to Noiz. His face would heat up at random moments; it was bad sometimes when Noiz would get too close to it – wondering if Sly had a fever – and his face would blush harder. And then, he would get extremely nervous and stutter sometimes; acting far beyond normal, Noiz would ask if he was okay. He was definitely not.

He would go far as to avoid Noiz for a while like what he was doing right now. He needed to calm down first and get some answers before facing Noiz again.

As his thoughts piled up, Ren perked up from sleep mode and walked over to Sly on the couch.

"Aoba, you're thinking too much."

"Hey, Ren…" Sly spoke solemnly.

"What is wrong? My circuits indicate you are feeling conflicted." Sly didn't answer to the pup. "Is it about Noiz?"

That's when the blue-haired teen's eyes grew wide and a blush formed on his cheeks. Ren didn't need any more confirmation to know his assumption was true.

Still, Sly tried to deny it. "W-W-What makes think it's has to do with Noiz?!"

"Aoba…" Ren's expression was close to serious unconvincing one.

"I… I…" With no excuse and no explanation, Sly shyly turned his eyes away from Ren and hid his face downwards. "Why do I feel so weird around him? It's like my mind can't think straight a-and I feel so nervous…"

Ren hummed in concern. "My senses have reported that your heartbeats have sped up around Noiz."

"Ren, what's wrong with me?" Sly asked with a dreadful voice as he held his Allmate up with both hands.

"I have researched the symptoms you have been feeling and…" Ren's trailing voice made Sly furrowed his brows at the pup.

"Well, what?!" He demanded.

"…These are quite common symptoms when one has… developed feelings for another." Sly widened his eyes. But the sadder part was that he couldn't even ask if Ren was lying, because Allmates – especially his – don't ever lie.

His gaze dropped down low, contemplating in thought. "You think… I might like Noiz? As in… really like him?"

"Well, if we are referring in technical terms, I believe your feelings for Noiz might even go further than that." Sly gasped at Ren's words.

His eyes were trembling. He slowly let Ren down back at the couch as he stared at only one part of the floor. Everything was silent. All of his thoughts were jumbled up and all of his emotions were clashing against each other. He clutched part of his shirt where his heart was and kept shaking his head furiously. A million of questions kept circling back to his head.

And that's when he glanced to his side when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. That was just it, his eyes. Sly kept staring at his reflection from the glass door that separated the living room from the outside world. And Sly kept his eyes trained on the mirror image as he got up from the couch and made his way over with his quiet footsteps.

When he finally came face-to-face with his own reflection, Sly lifted a hand and touched the glass door where it was reflecting his soulmate's eye. It reacted as though Sly had touched his own face; the green eye twitched and almost watering even. And then, Sly dragged his fingernails down the glass surface and slowly made a fist against it. He stopped staring at his reflection and looked down at the floor while bumping his forehead to the door. He clenched his teeth hard.

Was it possible… to fall for someone who might not even be your soulmate? And the words scared him to the core: might not.

…

Noiz was walking back to the apartment as he had the bag of takeout food in his hand. Actually, he took his sweet time to do everything slowly and time-consuming. Anything to keep him from coming back to the apartment, because he knew that Sly was there.

Sly… Just his name was doing terrible things inside of Noiz's chest. He kept pounding his torso to make it stop, but the feeling wouldn't go away unless he thought of something else. Too bad his thoughts were scrambled because all he could think about was Sly.

Ever since that day they talked about Noiz's condition, the interaction between both of them was different and tense. Sly may not hide his feelings that well like Noiz, but that meant that the blonde teen was also experiencing the same feelings for the blue-haired boy and just kept the awkwardness hidden from his side.

And it still meant how conflicted he was and the new emotions he was feeling were weighting down upon him. It was something he never felt before internally.

Something kept buzzing in his pocket as he pulled it out. It was his Allmate, Usagimodoki.

It hopped in his palm, "P! Noiz is hesitating! Noiz has been going out of the house lately!"

"Shut up…"

"Usagi knows Noiz is trying to avoid Sly Blue! Why?!"

"How should I know?" He would like an answer himself. "Can you look up why I've been having terrible feelings?"

"P! P! Usagi will research!" The cube in his hand had paused for a brief moment until it bounced again. "Done! It has been indicated that Noiz is experiencing affectionate feelings for Sly Blue!"

"…Affectionate?" Noiz never thought it was possible for him to feel that emotion. And unlike Sly, Noiz accepted the fact already because he never had experienced this before to deny it.

"Yes! It is quite common to feel this way sooner or later when Sly Blue is your soul-P!" Noiz had snuck the green cube back in his pocket before it could say anything more.

So, it was inevitable that Noiz would feel this way about Sly. And he wondered if the feeling was true or just a psychological reaction because of the soulmate logic and expectations filled in everyone's head.

He felt the buzzing in his pocket again and rolled his eyes. It won't stop until Noiz took it out again.

As he did, he could see the huffiness from the green cube. "P! So mean!"

"Then don't run your mouth next time."

"Why hasn't Noiz told Sly Blue the truth yet?!" As Noiz wanted to give a logical answer to that question, he couldn't. He wondered that himself, and maybe that's what was holding him back.

* * *

They endured their uncomfortable interactions with one another for a couple of more weeks until one of them snapped.

Sly couldn't take it anymore. The feelings he was going through were too much to handle. Neither of them had the guts to admit anything and it only made things worse. Sly had to realize the fact that he did hold something dear for Noiz and now it left the insecurities rising.

Noiz would never like him back; they were good friends too; and also the fact that hurt the most was that they probably weren't even soulmates. It was an awful feeling to think about and he felt like a fool for possibly falling for someone who couldn't be his. But he swore that he never felt anything like this before with anyone else but Noiz. He always had a hunch that there was a strange connection he sensed between the both of them, but maybe it was just in his mind. If they weren't soulmates, how can he expect to feel the same way to someone else?

And his mind kept boggling what if they were. Sly feeling this way to Noiz could have been an expectation and not something true within the heart.

He was scared of the truth, but he wanted to know. And the only scary way to find out was Noiz.

Sly was doing a dangerous task – curiosity killed the cat. He waited one day until late nightfall when Noiz was resting heavily in his room. He didn't know if Noiz was a light or heavy sleeper, but today he'll find out anyways.

He cautiously peek his head out and inspected the surroundings in Noiz's room. Thankfully, it wasn't too dark because he could see the slight green glow Usagimodoki was projecting against the desk drawer by the bed. He crept his feet slowly in – mindful of any creaky floorboards – and tiptoed carefully across the room until he met the bedside where he saw his exact target snoozing without his shades on.

He stopped for a moment when he realized this was the first time he saw Noiz's bare eyes, or eyelids to be exact. But he saw how sharp they were and the long eyelashes Noiz had winged them out. But he shook his head to stop getting distracted. Sly took a deep breath in and gradually hover his fingers closer and closer to Noiz's face. But then, he halted again. The goal was to peek a look at Noiz's eye color, but he didn't know which eye to choose. Should he choose the left to see if Noiz had his eye color or the right to see if Sly had his color? It shouldn't matter either way, but it felt like the situation would turn different if he chose either eye.

But he shook his head again from getting worried over this. He sucked another deep breath in and decided to just lift both eyelids to see. His hands finally touched the thin skin as his heartbeat was furiously resounding in his ears and sweat dripping from his forehead. As his trembling fingers started to lift the skin, he saw only a glimpse of the sclera before his heart leaped out of his throat and he threw himself back away from Noiz at a distance.

His mission failed. Noiz sprang up from his bed, nearing causing Sly to have a heart attack. The blonde tired teen groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He felt some pressure touched him as his body alerted him to be on defense mode. However, he didn't open his eyes yet because he shielded them with his hand. He could hear heavy breathing in the same room. He can only guess with limited suspects.

"Sly…" He growled. No response, but hearing a gulp sound. "What do you think you're doing?"

Sly felt his mouth was turning dry, "I… I was only trying…"

"Don't even try to lie. What were you doing trying to see my eyes?" Noiz was always straight to the point that he wouldn't let Sly have any room for excuses for a matter important like this.

And that's when Sly felt the anxiety stirred inside, but he couldn't let the fear show even if Noiz wasn't looking at him. "I just wanted to see what they were. We've been friends and living together for almost 2 months… I wanted to know about you. I know you said you weren't comfortable showing them, but… I thought you could trust me now."

"Well, you were wrong." His cold answer offended Sly.

"Well, why can't you tell me anything about yourself?!" Sly started to shout. "I feel like I don't know a single damn thing about you personally! That you're always hiding something from me! That you don't trust me! I'm your friend, aren't I?! Why do I feel like I'm no better than the rest of the people on the street that don't even know your name?!"

"What about you?!" Noiz was yelling too which shock Sly to hear him raised his voice. "You're hiding something too, aren't you? I don't just pin me to being the only one with secrets here. You're keeping as much personal information about yourself as much as I am. Why don't you leave me alone if you're going to be a fucking hypocrite?"

Even if Noiz's words were true, even if they threw a sharp needle inside his chest, even if Sly was trembling with overwhelming emotions that he was thankful Noiz wasn't looking at him; as his fists were shaking and his teeth were baring, he spoke in a hushed tone that held anger and sadness together. "At least, you know I fucking care about you to pry. That I stoop this low just to know anything about you, because I care, for the first time in my life, another human being besides me!" All retaliation left Noiz in a gasp. "Yeah, I know it's not fair that I'm the one being 'annoying' about this, but for once, I… never cared so much about anyone to be like this. The stuff I'm keeping from you… I didn't' want you to look at me any differently. That you still accept…"

He spoke too much. He spoke too much about deep personal feelings that shouldn't have uttered from his lips. His walls were weak and his guard was down when he accidentally said that. Sly was frozen, and he couldn't stand being here anymore. He thought it was over now. But what he didn't know was that the words that he said were enough for Noiz.

"I… I'm leaving."

"W…Wait, Sly!"

Sly abruptly turned away and rushed out of the room while slamming the door. He held himself against the door in case Noiz tried to chase him, because he could never show his face around him anymore. His face was red, his eyes were almost watering, and his breathing sped up. He couldn't do this anymore.

Sly got up from the door, taking Ren into his bag, and left the apartment.

Noiz sat back against the headboard of his bed. He grabbed a fistful of his bangs and was ready to rip it out of his head. He'll do anything to get rid of this guilty feeling that made him feel like shit. It was eating him alive. The feeling won't go away any time soon. He looked to his glowing Usagimodoki and knew what he had to do.

* * *

It took him a week later to finally get a hold of Sly. He knew the touchy teen was avoiding all his calls and messages, so he had to get straight to the point when he sent his last message that convinced Sly to meet him again.

-I'll tell you everything-

They stood in the middle of the living room, facing each other with awkward silence. Sly didn't look so well from the last time he saw him; his eyes were tired and dark. Noiz was the same except it wasn't shown because he was still wearing his shades.

Sly avoid eye contact and kept looking around the room, anywhere but Noiz. But the one who was most nervous was Noiz. His heart was throbbing so much; it felt like he ran all across the island nonstop.

He licked his lips yet his tongue was dry. He spoke softly yet nervously. "Thanks for coming."

"Is that it? You called me for that?" Sly's vicious words didn't faze Noiz, because he understood. "Get on with it. I was planning to never see you again. If you're gonna waste time, I might as well just-"

"I'm taking them off."

Sly stopped talking. He couldn't believe his ears. His eyes quickly faced Noiz again as though he would miss an opportunity of a lifetime.

Noiz steadily and hesitantly touched the frame of his glasses and removed them as though time was leisurely slowing down for Sly to savor the moment. As the glasses were finally off, Sly was once staring at Noiz's closed eyelids like he did a week ago. They were both holding their breaths in, pulses were speeding up.

And then, Noiz opened his eyes.

There it was. Sly saw them perfectly. He didn't care if his own eyes were deceiving him. He saw them – the yellow eye that was exactly the same as Sly's and that unmistakable green majestic shade. They both stayed in the long silence for who knows how long.

It was Noiz that broke it first, "Now you know why."

"Yeah… no. No, I don't know why. Why did you keep this a secret from me?!" Mixed emotions were running through his head that Sly didn't know how to react to this big moment so calmly.

"What would you have done? If you were in my shoes, would you have been happy to find your soulmate so randomly?" From Noiz's tone, Sly started to understand bit by bit.

He shook his head. "I guess not. If you did approach me, I would have kicked your ass."

"Exactly. I was afraid the entire time how you were going to react if you saw my eyes."

"How did you know? How long did you knew? Why did you still talk to me after you knew?" Sly would have avoided his soulmate if he had found them first.

"I heard of you before in Rhyme. I just wanted to fight you. I saw your battle with another opponent before and as I tried to approach you in a big crowd, I saw your eyes, but you didn't see me. I was shocked too. I wanted to avoid you… and I did to, but my mind was set on a Rhyme match with you." Noiz explained as he saw the realization in Sly's eyes that he remembered the rematch they were suppose to play. A lot of events caught up with them that they both eventually forgot.

"That's right…" He wondered how things would have gone differently if they did play their rematch and went separate ways after that. There was another long silence, but they weren't done talking.

"I guess you know I can't feel pain…" Sly nodded. "I… can't explain it myself. I was just born with it… People thought I was a freak, even my parents." Those words alone broke a piece from Sly's heart. "They locked me in a room… I was never allowed out of there… I didn't know why. I started to believe that I was a monster, that I could never understand what it feels like to be human if I can't feel pain. I was better off alone." The more hurtful words that uttered from Noiz's mouth, the more Sly felt like he wanted to cry.

"I thought about my soulmate." Sly held his breath as Noiz spoke more. "I wondered who they were, but more importantly, will they accept me? Will they not treat me like a monster? Can they understand my feelings? Will they be … my first friend?" Sly was gaped. Noiz hasn't been staring at him for the entire time. Bringing up the past wasn't easy and admitting it was close to impossible. But he wanted to believe again like he did when he was little. He wanted to trust the one person that fucking care about him.

"I… Me too. I-I mean…!" Crap, Sly was a stuttering mess already but Noiz patiently waited until he calmed down and started again. "When I was little, my parents left me when I was young. And that messed me up pretty bad. Granny was the only person who took care of me, but she didn't like who I was turning to be." Sly breathed in and out and stared hard at Noiz. "You were right. The whole time you were right back at Rhyme. I have an ability: Scrap. I can control people's mind and destroy them if I wanted to." Noiz was speechless, but his eyes never changed expression.

"I was used to people leaving me, that's why I wanted to be alone. That's why I hurt others so I wouldn't get hurt myself. I never cared about anyone… until you. You were so different; annoying at first, but cool later on. I felt relaxed around you. Now, I know you're someone I can relate to." Sly finally stepped closer, erasing some far distance between them. "I was scared too. Will my soulmate accept me? Will they never leave me? Will they understand me? Will they never hurt me? Will they like me…?"

"Of course, I do." Noiz's abrupt response made Sly halt.

"W-What?" His cheeks flared.

"I like you… I might even actually be in love with you."

Sly wasn't ready for such a serious answer so quickly. His heart sped a million beats per second. "W…Wait, that was too sudden! Y-You can't blurt things out loud like that!"

"But I do."

"I don't know that!" He screamed before catching his breath. "H-how do I even know those feelings are true? You might not even be in love with me; you're probably thinking you are because you've known I've been your soulmate for so long… You're probably confused!"

"Think about this…" Noiz interrupted calmly for Sly to see. "If I was being delusional about this, wouldn't you think I would have revealed it to you sooner than months later since we've known each other and lived together? Don't you think I would have asked you out instead of demanding for a Rhyme match?"

"W-well… that might be your weird way of flirting." Sly pointed a finger at him that made Noiz sighed impatiently.

"Did you think I was flirting with you the entire time?"

"I…actually, no." Sly knew Noiz better than that.

"I only wanted a Rhyme match with you. Don't you remember… it was you who wormed your way into my life?" The beginning where Sly asked to live at Noiz's apartment for just a few weeks, the countless times he dragged Noiz to hang out every Saturday, how Sly persistently wanted to know more about him; Noiz never forgot every moment he spent with Sly and through the weird advantages he was forced in and how much his life had changed in the last couple of months.

"I might have liked you since the beginning, but I knew my feelings were developed more when I started hanging out with you. How you showed you cared for me… the first person to have done that. And what you said back then too: 'Just because you can't feel pain, doesn't make you different…' You changed me with those words." Noiz was reminiscing at the memory fondly.

"Well, of course, I meant that." Sly furrowed his brows with a serious look. "You're not a monster. You're human too. More human than I am even… And that's why… I like you too." He spoke shyly and turned his blushing face away.

Noiz's eyes grew slightly wider. "Are you serious?"

"W-Well, y-yeah! I know I like you too, but not sure if it's exactly l-love, but…" As Sly rambled on, Noiz stepped closer and erased just any distance from them. He lifted Sly's chin to face him; the blue-haired's expression grew more red and embarrassed. "…maybe I'm getting there."

And Noiz smiled for the first time, catching Sly surprised. "How do I know your feelings are true?"

And then Sly pouted, "Seriously, I didn't know you were my freaking soulmate for months! You were just some weird poser with shades on." Noiz chuckled from the comment, making Sly's heart flipped. "It took me this long to fall for you… or maybe just realizing it myself. But I know that I do care about you more than you do yourself. Just because you can't feel pain, doesn't mean you should go out and get hurt. Because you'll make me worry…"

"That goes the same for you…" Noiz couldn't resist anymore and kissed Sly on the forehead, making the butterflies flutter in both their hearts. "Thank you for caring about me all this time. I might not understand being human yet, but… will you help me?"

"Of course, you big baby." Sly smiled. "I'll show you the world out there. As long as you better be by my side, I'll be happy to help!"

"So, will you accept me?"

"Yes."

"Will you understand me?"

"Don't I already do?"

"Will you never treat me like a monster?"

"Never. …Will you ever leave me?"

"Of course not."

"Do you accept me?"

"I do."

"Will you understand me?"

"I will."

"Will you never hurt me?"

Noiz placed a gentle kiss on Sly's lips as he held him by the waist and Sly holding onto Noiz's shoulders. The kiss was sweet, nice, and tender. Full of love and repressed emotions they both held back for a long time. Sparks were going through their veins as though they could stay touching like this and being so close forever. And as they separated, Noiz placed another kiss on Sly's forehead before smiling, "Never in a million years."

And Sly smiled too, feeling too emotional. "Are you ready?"

Noiz nodded and they both stared into each other's eyes for one last time before closing and opening them again. Noiz had a pair of green eyes and Sly had a pair of yellow eyes. It's just what they thought – the other's eyes were really beautiful.

Noiz cupped Sly's cheek, "I really like your eyes. They were really beautiful; not on me, but to you, definitely."

Sly scoffed with another blush forming his cheeks. "Says you. Your eyes looked prettier."

Noiz chuckled again. "Does this mean we're together?"

A growing smile appeared on Sly's face, "What do you think? Come on, Bunny boy."

They walked hand-in-hand out of the apartment and to the outside world. Neither had anything to hide anymore; they were both proud to show their eyes and love to the world.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading~ Please notify me for any typos and mistakes. Asian Peace Out!~**


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